A Guide to Working at Height Equipment: MEWPs, AWPs, MCWP, Crane Baskets and UK Regulations

Working at height is any work activity where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. Unlike some other European jurisdictions, the UK Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR) set no minimum height threshold: if a fall from any height could cause injury, the regulations apply. WAHR flows from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASWA), and works alongside the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). Together, these place clear duties on employers: a specific risk assessment, selection of the most suitable equipment, and training and competence of operators.

Not all equipment for lifting people is the same, and none of it is interchangeable. This guide covers the main families of machines and systems used to get operators safely to height, how they are classified, and what criteria to follow when choosing the right one.

 

What is a MEWP?

MEWP is the acronym for Mobile Elevating Work Platform, the most widely used type of machine for mobile work at height across every sector (construction, industrial maintenance, logistics, arboriculture, events and exhibitions). The technical reference is BS EN 280, which defines the MEWP as equipment intended to move persons to a working position, from which they carry out their work exclusively from the platform itself.

 

MEWP or Cherry Picker?

In everyday UK usage, boom-type MEWPs are often called “cherry pickers”, a name that originated with the boom lifts used by fruit pickers and utility companies, and is still sometimes used loosely to refer to any aerial platform. Technically, however, the two terms are not interchangeable: a cherry picker is a MEWP (specifically a boom lift), but MEWP is the broader, correct technical term covering every type of powered access platform, including scissor lifts and vertical mast lifts that most people would never call a cherry picker.

 

 

How many types of MEWP are there?

MEWPs are not all the same: they differ by structure, method of travel and configuration, and understanding these differences is the first step to navigating the models available on the market.

 

Types by stability group

MEWPs are divided into two groups based on the vertical projection of the load’s centre of gravity relative to the tipping lines:

• Group A: the projection of the centre of gravity always remains within the tipping lines. This includes vertical mast platforms and scissor lifts.
• Group B: the projection of the centre of gravity can fall outside the tipping lines. This is typical of telescopic and/or articulating boom platforms.

 

Types by IPAF category

Alongside the BS EN 280 stability grouping, the industry in the UK works day to day with a second classification: the one set by IPAF (International Powered Access Federation), which is UK-based and whose category labels appear on training courses, PAL cards and hire company listings far more often than the BS EN 280 Group A/B terminology. IPAF classifies MEWPs on two criteria: whether the machine is static or can travel while elevated, and whether it lifts straight up or can also reach out sideways.

• 1a – Static vertical: push-around or static platforms that rise only vertically and can only be moved once lowered, such as single-person mast lifts.
• 1b – Static boom: boom-type platforms, such as trailer-mounted or truck-mounted lifts, that must be set up on outriggers and are not driven while elevated.
• 3a – Mobile vertical: self-propelled platforms that rise only vertically and can be driven while elevated, such as scissor lifts and self-propelled vertical mast lifts.
• 3b – Mobile boom: self-propelled boom lifts (articulating or telescopic) that can be driven while elevated, covering most machines popularly known as cherry pickers.

Two further categories complete the IPAF scheme: PAV (Push Around Vertical), a lightweight, manually-moved vertical lift typically used indoors for low-level maintenance, and IAD (Isolated Aerial Device), a platform mounted on a vehicle or trailer chassis but electrically isolated from it. A machine’s BS EN 280 group and its IPAF category describe the same equipment from two different angles (stability engineering versus practical operating category) and it is common, and correct, to see both used side by side.

 

Types by mode of travel

A second criterion concerns whether the machine can be driven with the platform raised:

• Type 1: travel is only permitted with the platform in the stowed, transport position.
• Type 2: travel with the platform elevated is possible, but the controls remain on the chassis.
• Type 3: travel with the platform elevated is possible, controlled directly from the platform itself.

On many models, Types 2 and 3 are combined, with two separate control panels (chassis and platform) selected via a changeover switch.

 

Types by configuration and drive

Beyond how they lift, MEWPs also differ in how they are transported and moved around a site:

• Self-propelled: fitted with its own power unit (diesel, LPG, electric) for both travel and elevation.
• Truck-mounted: mounted on a vehicle approved for road use.
• Trailer-mounted: towed by a tractor vehicle, operating on outriggers.

 

The main types on the market

• Vertical mast lifts: rise only vertically, ideal for indoor use and modest heights.
• Scissor lifts: wide platform, vertical movement only, good stability.
• Articulating booms: arms with intermediate joints, able to work around obstacles and reach points not accessible in a straight line.
• Telescopic booms: rigid, straight-line extension, suited to jobs requiring significant height and outreach without needing to work around obstacles.
• Spider/tracked lifts: compact and lightweight, designed for difficult ground, narrow spaces, gardens and indoor areas with restricted access.
• Van-mounted: small vertical platforms mounted on commercial vehicles, used for street works, signage and public lighting maintenance.

 

Who can operate a MEWP? Training and certification

Operating a MEWP requires the operator to be competent, as required by Regulation 5 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. There is no single UK law mandating a specific card scheme or a fixed number of training hours, unlike some other European countries: WAHR and PUWER require competence and adequate training, without prescribing the exact course content or duration. In practice, the industry standard is training accredited by IPAF (International Powered Access Federation), which is UK-based and whose Powered Access Licence (PAL card) is recognised and expected by the vast majority of principal contractors and sites across the country. New operator courses typically run one to two days, combining theory and practice, and the PAL card itself is valid for five years, a validity period set by IPAF rather than by statute.

Where the MEWP is truck-mounted, the operator (or a second team member) also needs the appropriate category of driving licence to move the vehicle on the public highway. The two competencies can sit with the same person or with two different operators.

 

 

Mast Climbing Work Platforms (MCWP)

A different system from the MEWP is used for maintenance work around the perimeter of a roof, or as a temporary external means of access to it. It must be used strictly in accordance with the manufacturer’s assembly, dismantling and use procedures, and only if the equipment is certified for that specific purpose. If the basket or platform is not certified for stepping off at height, it cannot be used as an access route onto the roof: the operator’s work must always take place from inside the platform, with the harness clipped on.

In practice, this is the Mast Climbing Work Platform (MCWP), governed by BS EN 1495: a system anchored to a building facade, with a platform that travels vertically along one or more masts. It is used in place of fixed scaffolding on tall buildings (even above 100 metres) and in the maintenance of towers, silos and chimneys.

 

What is the difference between a MEWP and an MCWP?

The difference lies in what the operator does once at height.

With a MEWP, the operator works from a fixed position inside the platform or basket throughout: they go up, remain there, and carry out the work from that position, without stepping off.

With an MCWP, by contrast, the equipment mainly serves to bring the operator up to the edge of a roof: once at height, the operator may step off the platform to work on the roof itself, but only if the manufacturer has specifically certified the machine for that kind of disembarkation. If the machine lacks that specific certification, the operator must remain inside the platform at all times, exactly as on a MEWP.

 

 

Crane baskets

This is an accessory fitted to the end of a crane’s jib (fixed or mobile) that allows one or more operators to be lifted to height. It has no propulsion of its own: it depends entirely on the movement of the crane and on the operator controlling it from the ground or from the cab.

When a crane is fitted with a crane man basket to carry an operator to height, an important regulatory distinction comes into play before choosing or setting up the equipment: the crane basket can be integrated and certified as a MEWP (BS EN 280-2) where certain requirements are met, or it can be intended for exceptional lifting of persons (BS EN 14502-1), where that specific certification is absent. In this second case, the crane is not equipment designed for lifting people, and its use to do so falls under Regulation 5 of LOLER and the Approved Code of Practice for lifting people, which restricts this practice to genuinely exceptional circumstances, commonly known in the industry as a “man-riding basket” or “manrider”.

 

Types of basket by levelling system

Man baskets are distinguished by their levelling system, that is how the platform stays level while the crane moves:

• Gravity levelling (passive): the basket swings freely until it settles into a level position by itself, which is then locked to allow the operator to work.
• Controlled levelling: the operator manually adjusts levelness via a dedicated ram, opening and closing a valve to unlock or fix the position.
• Active levelling: an electronic or hydraulic system automatically keeps the basket level throughout the boom’s movement, without manual operator input — the most technologically advanced solution.

This range is complemented by aerial work platforms, designed to carry several operators at height at the same time (up to 3), available in hydraulic or electro-hydraulic versions, with an automatic levelling system built into the platform structure itself.

 

Certification required

Two separate competencies apply here too: a lorry loader operator’s certification and a MEWP operator’s qualification are not the same thing, and holding one does not imply holding the other. If the lorry loader-and-basket configuration has been certified as an integrated MEWP, operating it requires a valid MEWP qualification (such as an ALLMI MEWP attachment endorsement or an IPAF PAL Card), exactly as with any other MEWP. If, instead, a non-integrated basket is used for the exceptional lifting of persons, the operator requires a valid crane competency card — typically an ALLMI Operator Card for lorry loaders, the UK industry standard commended by the HSE — to which is added, where the same person must also drive the vehicle on the public highway, the appropriate category of driving licence.

 

 

Suspended baskets on ropes or chains

A further configuration exists, distinct from all of the above: a basket suspended from the crane hook by ropes or chains, rather than rigidly fixed to the jib. This is a solution used only within the exceptional circumstances already described for BS EN 14502-1, with even more stringent technical requirements: the safety factors required for suspension ropes and chains are higher than those set for lifting ordinary loads, precisely because the crane was not designed to lift people.

 

 

Baskets and platforms for forklift trucks

A forklift truck is designed to move materials, not to lift people. Where a basket or cage is fitted to the forks to carry an operator to height, this falls under the same logic of exceptional use covered by BS EN 14502-1, and is specifically addressed by HSE Guidance Note PM28 on non-integrated working platforms on forklift trucks. Because the forklift operator controls both the truck and the platform from the ground (with no controls inside the cage itself) this type of arrangement is classified as a “non-integrated” work platform, and PM28 restricts its use strictly to occasional, unplanned, exceptional circumstances (for example an emergency repair), never to planned or routine work, for which a purpose-built MEWP must be used instead.

The position is different for telescopic handlers, which can carry a basket certified directly by the manufacturer for work at height: here, this is no longer exceptional use, but a configuration provided for and approved from the design stage, whose conformity should always be checked against the specific model and its technical documentation. In every case, it remains absolutely prohibited to lift people directly on forks, pallets or other improvised supports, without a certified basket or cage.

 

 

A brief note on fall protection PPE

Even the most suitable equipment does not by itself remove the risk of a fall from height, whether that is a MEWP, a crane basket or a forklift-mounted platform: it must always be combined with the correct personal protective equipment.

Harness and lanyard

Wearing a full body harness is mandatory on board any platform or basket used to lift people. The lanyard must be clipped to the anchor points specified by the manufacturer inside the platform or basket, in accordance with the site’s safe system of work.

Work restraint vs fall arrest

It is worth distinguishing two different functions of fall protection systems:

• Work restraint system: physically prevents the operator from reaching a position from which they could fall (the typical set-up on MEWPs, crane baskets and forklift platforms, where the lanyard is adjusted to prevent leaning out beyond the guard rail).
• Fall arrest system: intervenes after a fall has already begun, limiting its consequences (typical of rope access work or roof work, less relevant when operating inside an enclosed platform).

 

 

Equipment compared

 

Equipment	Reference standard	What the operator does	Certification required	Typical context of use
MEWP	BS EN 280	Always works from inside the platform	IPAF PAL card (MEWP operator)	Construction sites, industrial maintenance, events
MCWP (mast climbing platform)	BS EN 1495	Rides up with the platform; may step off onto the roof only if certified for it	IPAF PAL card (where applicable)	Tall building facades, towers, silos, chimneys
Crane basket certified as MEWP	BS EN 280-2	Always works from inside the basket	IPAF PAL card (MEWP operator)	Frequent/structural use of the crane-plus-basket combination
Crane basket for exceptional lifting of persons	BS EN 14502-1, LOLER Reg. 5 + ACOP	Always works from inside the basket	ALLMI Operator Card (+ driving licence if the same person moves the vehicle)	Occasional, non-repetitive use, where no other technical solution is available
Basket suspended on ropes or chains	BS EN 14502-1, exceptional circumstances	Always works from inside the suspended basket	ALLMI Operator Card	Exceptional cases, reinforced safety factors
Forklift-mounted basket/cage	BS EN 14502-1, HSE Guidance PM28	Always works from inside the basket	RTITB (or NPORS/ITSSAR/AITT) forklift certificate	Occasional, unplanned use on forks only
Platform on a telescopic handler	Manufacturer’s specific certification	Always works from inside the platform	Manufacturer-specified certification	Configuration provided for from the design of the handler

 

How to choose the right equipment?

Beyond the specific category, a number of general criteria guide the choice between a MEWP, a crane basket or a forklift platform.

1. Equipment already available on site

Before considering the purchase or hire of a dedicated machine, it is worth looking at the fleet already available. A business that already runs a lorry-mounted crane, for example, can often consider fitting an operator basket rather than adding a separate MEWP: the same machine then becomes usable both for lifting loads and, once technical compatibility is verified, for work at height, at a lower investment than buying dedicated equipment and without having to manage an additional vehicle in the fleet.

2. Required working height

Equipment on the market generally falls into four bands: up to 10 metres, 10 to 20 metres, 20 to 40 metres, and over 40 metres. The equipment chosen should reach the working height with an adequate safety margin, rather than relying solely on the maximum height stated by the manufacturer.

3. Load capacity and number of operators

Certified capacity must account not only for the weight of the operators, but also for tools and materials that will go up with them.

4. Context of use: indoor or outdoor

This is one of the most underrated factors in the decision. Indoors, on industrial floors, non-marking tyres and zero-emission (electric) power are needed. Outdoors, on rough or sloping ground, 4×4 drive and rough-terrain tyres or tracks become the relevant considerations.

5. Ground and working space

Ground type (industrial flooring, construction site, sloping terrain) and the space available for manoeuvring should be considered, particularly on urban sites or in confined areas.

6. Power source

Diesel for outdoor performance, electric for enclosed or noise-sensitive environments, diesel/electric hybrid for those operating in both contexts.

7. With or without outriggers

Machines with outriggers offer greater stability but need more space and set-up time; those without are quicker to get into operation, in exchange for a more limited working radius.

 

 

Why choose Platforms crane personnel baskets

Platforms baskets are built on more than 50 years of experience in the lifting sector, developed within the Ormet Group, combining safety, reliability and full regulatory compliance in every configuration.

A range of operator platforms designed to cover every work-at-height need: from gravity baskets, available in single and twin-person versions, to “Easy” controlled-levelling baskets, through to “SL” self-levelling baskets with electro-hydraulic technology. For those needing to carry several operators to height with maximum control, the range is completed by hydraulic lifting platforms and electro-hydraulic self-levelling platforms, designed for teams of up to 3.

All products are designed and manufactured in Italy, compliant with applicable regulations and available in a range of materials (steel, aluminium, stainless steel, fibreglass). The aim is to offer solutions engineered to meet the real needs of every operating context, from construction sites to industry and specialist work at height, without ever compromising on safety or reliability.

 

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is the difference between a MEWP and a PAV?

A PAV (Push Around Vertical) is a specific IPAF sub-category of MEWP, not a separate type of equipment: it’s a lightweight, manually-moved vertical lift, typically used indoors for low-level maintenance tasks. Unlike self-propelled vertical MEWPs (IPAF category 3a), a PAV has no drive motor for travel — it’s wheeled into position by hand and only powered for the lifting function itself.

Do you need a banksman when using a MEWP?

There’s no blanket legal requirement for a banksman (ground-based signaller) on every MEWP operation. Whether one is needed depends on the risk assessment for the specific job: a banksman is typically required where the operator’s visibility is restricted, where the MEWP is working near the public, in traffic, or close to other site activity, or wherever ground-level hazards need to be monitored that the operator in the platform cannot see.

Does a MEWP require a lift plan?

Since a MEWP is lifting equipment used to lift people, LOLER requires the lifting operation to be properly planned by a competent person. For straightforward, low-risk MEWP use, this planning is often built into the standard risk assessment and method statement rather than a separate formal lift plan document. A distinct, more detailed lift plan — of the kind commonly associated with crane operations — becomes necessary for more complex or higher-risk MEWP operations.

Can you use a MEWP as a crane?

No. A MEWP is designed and certified to lift people, not to lift external loads like a crane. Using a MEWP platform to sling or hoist loads is generally not permitted unless the specific machine and its attachment points have been designed and certified by the manufacturer for that purpose; doing so outside those limits compromises the stability calculations the machine was certified against.

Can a MEWP be driven on the road?

It depends on the type. Truck-mounted MEWPs can be driven on public roads in their stowed, transport configuration, since the mounting vehicle itself is road-registered and plated like any other goods vehicle. Self-propelled MEWPs — scissor lifts and boom lifts on tyres or tracks — are site machines: they are not road-legal and must be transported between sites by trailer or lorry.

Can you use a man basket on an overhead crane?

Only in exceptional circumstances. An overhead (gantry/bridge) crane is not designed to lift people, so using a man basket on one falls under Regulation 5 of LOLER and the Approved Code of Practice for lifting people — the same framework that applies to man-riding baskets on mobile cranes. This means it cannot be routine practice: it is permitted only where no other suitable access equipment is practical, with a proper risk assessment, a competent person planning the operation, and a basket meeting BS EN 14502-1 construction requirements.

What are the main components of aerial work platforms?

The main components are the chassis (with the travel system and, where fitted, outriggers or stabilisers), the lifting mechanism itself — a mast, scissor mechanism, or telescopic/articulating boom — the platform or basket, fitted with guardrails and designated anchor points for the harness, and the control panel, present on the chassis and, depending on the machine type, on the platform as well.

Is IPAF the same as MEWP?

No, they’re not the same thing. MEWP (Mobile Elevating Work Platform) is the type of equipment — the machine itself. IPAF (International Powered Access Federation) is the UK-based trade body that sets training standards, issues the PAL operator card, and represents the powered access industry. You operate a MEWP; you get certified through IPAF.